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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Comedy > Holiday > Music > Melodrama > Danger In The Manger (aka Nativity 2/2012/Inception DVD)

Danger In The Manger (aka Nativity 2/2012/Inception DVD)


Picture: C Sound: B- Extras: D Main Program: A-



Mr. Peterson (David Tennant) is a new teacher, but his first class is in an underdog school, with the most unruly students and an assistant teacher who is more childish than the kids and gets into more trouble than he is worth. On the first day, they start an epic journey to a castle in Wales to win the National Christmas Song contest, and Mr. Peterson is taken along for the ride. As they get lost along the way they learn the meaning of family, friendship, faith and the spirit of Christmas.


In Debbie Isitt's Danger In The Manger (2012), Peterson has the worst of luck when he is paired with Mr. Poppy, an assistant teacher with no sense of responsibility. On his first day he is shanghaied by his class into an amphibious bus and gets lost in the wilderness and somehow they have to find the castle in time to join the competition, but that is the least of their problems when they find out they are in a competition against Mr. Poppy's rival, Mr. Shakespeare (Jason Watkins) and Mr. Peterson's perfectionist brother, Rodrick (also played by Tennant). As Mr. Poppy is the happy go lucky idiot and Mr. Peterson is the realist and just wants to get his students home safely, they might just learn something from each other about believing in one self and the meaning and spirit Christmas.


This was a more entertaining movie than the cover let on. The movie features BBC superstars David Tennant (a one time Doctor Who) and Jason Watkins (of the UK version of Being Human) and was a comical Christmas story on adventure, faith and miracles. It featured many well done songs done by school choirs in beautiful holiday costumes, with singing and dancing. On an interesting note, David Tennant plays two masterful roles as a good and evil twin brothers competing with each other. This was much like story of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, but they should of called the movie instead the 'Best Christmas Song Ever'. Still, it was good family Christmas movie for all ages.


The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a Christmas Soft digital shoot, but we suspect some of it is intended that way and as this has been issued on Blu-ray elsewhere, could look easily better in full HD. A music-based tale, the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo fares better and is not bad, but there are sadly no extras.



- Ricky Chiang


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